Here's What We Think

If it seems this offseason was longer than usual, that's because it was. Literally.

That's because it began a whole month early, in December, with predictions as to how Ohio State would fare for five games without Terrelle Pryor, Mike Adams, DeVier Posey, Boom Herron or Solomon Thomas, who would be serving suspensions for the Tatgate fiasco that had been uncovered prior to the Sugar Bowl.

Then the offseason briefly veered toward the positive as National Letter of Intent day arrived in February with the Buckeyes landing one of Jim Tressel's best classes ever.

THIS FICKELLBALL OF MINE: I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE

By mid-March the five player suspensions had struck an uncomfortable balance with Tressel's two-game sentence as his nefarious role in the Tatgate coverup began to emerge. Those two games in the penalty box eventually grew into a five-game suspension that matched the culprits'.

We were told for fact that TP made $20,000 to $40,000 in super secret autograph sessions and the jpegs of his endorsed personal checkswere eventually going to show up on the news, but exactly how many tens of thousands did he make signing autographs? Would the IRS get involved?

And exactly how many football camp raffles did Tressel fix during Reagan's first term? THESE STORIES WERE ALL ON THE INTERNET SO WE KNEW THEY HAD TO BE AT LEAST SORT OF TRUE.

The dire prediction game accelerated once Jim Tressel was firesigtired. When would Urban Meyer leave ESPN to take the dream job at his alma mater, and would he beat Everybody's Coaching Vacancy Candidate™ Jon Gruden to the WHAC?

The NCAA's Notice of Allegations to Ohio State, which very few people actually bothered to read, should have dismissed the widely-believed notion that radioactive sanction waves were afoot, but at this point the Ohio TAINT narrative was a bullet train that every attention whoring media hack and whore wannabe were trying to commandeer for their own personal benefit.

ESPN then sued Ohio State for more information with the hopes of turning its colonoscopy of the OSU Athletic Department into a full cavity search. How would America's most credible investigative reporting-slash-diligent news organization-slash-purveyor of The Decision fair in the court system?

The extended offseason that refused to end roared to a crescendo with Ohio State's meeting with the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Noted mathematician and perpetually outraged citizen Dennis Dodd called Tressel's $52,000 final paycheck a "golden parachute." That monster payday amounted to a 1.5% of what would have been his 2011 base salary and one third of one percent of what Tressel had previously been guaranteed to make through 2014.

By using the Doddian Outrage Theorem we can calculate your golden parachute, once you inevitably get laid off from your $65,000 a year job that you only sort of like anyway: You're going to dance out of the building with a cool $965. Cash. Money. Dodd was a financial planner in his past life.

That miracle of integer math only produced more predictions: Would Tressel buy his own island with his big money payday? Or would he resign himself to attending more exotic, high-dollar events like Browns preseason camp or Terrelle Pryor's pro day instead?

It turns out that the vast majority of the manufactured drama and artificial mini-scandals from the last eight months amounted to little more than a lingering fart in a small car. Yahoo's diligent research that produced its Miami expose also exposed the Summer of JournaLOLism for what it was. Evidence matters. Anonymous sources and hearsay are only admissible in the court of public opinion.

But now all of those predictions - except for the NCAA COI's final, non-lethal judgment of the Gates Tat and Tressel - can go straight to the burning fires of forgettable offseason hell forever and stay there. It's time to predict the future we actually want to predict: The one with all of the football being played in it.

Below are the 11W staff's predictions for the 2011W season (no, we cannot type the current year without the W automatically showing up at the end. This branding anomaly only happens every hundred years, so deal with it).

2011W final scorecard: Cautiously sortofoptimistic

Alex

Chris

DJ

Jason

Joe

Johnny

Luke

Ramzy

Sarah

Ohio State's 2011 record:

9-3

10-2

11-1

9-3

10-2

9-3

8-4

9-3

9-3

This year's team was expected to trot to the B1G championship game in Indianapolis, and then Tatgate happened. It looks as though most of the staff sees Tressel's firesigtirement costing the Buckeyes anywhere from two to three wins, with DJ being the most optimistic and Luke turning the wayback machine to 2004.

11W COMPOSITE PREDICTION: 9-3. Bleh. Good God are we spoiled.

BOWL DESTINATION:

Alex

Chris

DJ

Jason

Joe

Johnny

Luke

Ramzy

Sarah

OSU Bowl Destination

Capital One

Sugar

Rose

Capital One

Fiesta

Capital One

Gator

Capital One

Capital One

There's little nuance to this prediction; the final season record produces a mostly-straight line across the dance card to one of the postseason possibilities. At 9-3, that's probably Orlando. At ten wins, with Ohio State's desirable TV eyeballs, that's a spin on the BCS roulette wheel. Secretly, Luke just wants to see Luke Fickell perpetuate the Ohio State legacy of on-field coaching violence at the Gator Bowl by pinning an opposing player on live TV. And as lousy as the Gator Bowl would be to cap a run that delivered eight BCS trips over the last nine seasons, the idea of seeing Fickell wrestle again is at the very least...intriguing.

11W COMPOSITE PREDICTION: Capital One Bowl

B1G DIVISION CHAMPIONS

Alex

Chris

DJ

Jason

Joe

Johnny

Luke

Ramzy

Sarah

Leaders Champ

Wisco

Wisco

Ohio State

Wisco

Wisco

Wisco

Wisco

Wisco

Wisco

Legends Champ

Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska

MSU

MSU

MSU

Nebraska

MSU

Wisconsin is almost the consensus pick to be most appreciative beneficiary of Tatgate, while Nebraska and Michigan State are the clear 1-2 in the Legends (I had to look this up) division. You could interpret that this means that 11W sees the October 17 meeting between Wisconsin and Michigan State as the non-Ohio State B1G game of the year. The Badgers get Ohio State the following week. By the way, you should be making plans for this ASAP. <--- seriously, just get it done. Use your Doddian golden parachute money if you must.

11W COMPOSITE PREDICTION: Wisconsin vs. Nebraska for the B1G title & the trip to Pasadena

everybody get out of braxton miller's chair please kthxbye

Now more than ever: Dave is our friend.

The scenario that has played out in everybody's mind since Pryor rode off into the sunset (on a loaner horse - ZING) has been one in which Braxton Miller, the rightful heir to the throne at Not-Quarterback U, ascends to the top of the depth chart as an exercise in inevitability. The question in that scenario has always been when. Not if. When.

Standing in his way is everyone's least-favorite grandpa, the antagonist of Act VII, the villain not named Evan Turner, the tollbooth on the Autobahn, the one and only - as far as we know - Joe Bauserman.

Ironically, everyone should be rooting for Bauserman, because the longer that Miller stays in the incubator, the more powerful he should become in learning the system without being baptized by the same brand of fire that Pryor experienced in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2008 when it became abundantly obvious Todd Boeckman's ideal passing conditions involved the 1972 Oakland Raiders offensive line or better blocking for him.

We are a reflection of society. Society demands instant gratification in the face of logic. 11W opinions range from immediate gratification to eventual gratification. But there will be gratification. No gratification is not an option.

As for the team MVP on the setting-up-the-punt side of the ball, the majority of us are going with a running back. As much as we'd all like to laugh at Johnny and Sarah for going with offensive lineman Marcus Hall, we'll assume they're referring to the more slippery Jordan Hall who is a threat to line up at every position on the field except long snapper.

defense: who are we kidding it's going to be awesome again

Jim Heacock has been running the Ohio State defense since some of his current players were too young for Pee Wee football. Tatgate's roster damage was largely confined to the setting-up-the-punt side of the ball and the recruiting has been lights-out. Add to that a defensive minded head coach who co-ran this unit last year and there's very little reason to believe that the Silver Bullets are going to deviate from their three-and-out ways.

Alex

Chris

DJ

Jason

Joe

Johnny

Luke

Ramzy

Sarah

Defensive MVP

Simon

Sweat

Ohrian Johnson

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

Nate Williams

Howard

Moeller

11W COMPOSITE PREDICTION: The Star wins

wanted: guys for braxton to throw to

If there's any spot on the roster that is a cause for pause, it's the pass-catchers. Last year Ohio State's glorified tackles (read: Tight Ends) actually became viable receiving options, which pleased the mongrel horde that had been begging for years to involve the big fellas in the passing game. With a whole slew of green quarterbacks taking over, this is where all of the handsy experience remains until DeVier Posey is discharged from Attica in game six.

Philly Brown brings the most experience back among the un-suspended, but his hands created too many unsticky memories to keep 11W prognosticators from being bullish on his emergence. He'll probably prove us wrong, and all of us - except Joe and Sarah - will get to take credit for lighting the fire that sent him barreling toward the 2012 Biletnikoff Award. You're welcome, Philly. We're happy to be your bulletin board material.

Alex

Chris

DJ

Jason

Joe

Johnny

Luke

Ramzy

Sarah

2 WRs Who Emerge

Reed and Smith

Reed and Smith

Reed and T.Y. Williams

Reed and Stoney

Reed and Brown

Reed and Smith

T.Y. Williams and Smith

Reed and Smith

Brown and Smith

11W COMPOSITE PREDICTION: Verlon Reed and Devin Smith will soothe you back into restful sleep

awwwwww isn't that cute you're contributing right away

This is normally an exercise in guesswork and trolling fall practice reports, but this year freshman contribution has been simplified. None of 11W's guesses are of the dark horse variety, though DJ's thoroughly violates the spirit of the question (he's permitted to get away with it so long as Verlon Reed emerges as the stud he expects him to be).

Otherwise, it's Braxton Miller emerging as the top freshman, just as we expected him to back in November 2007 when he got on the field as a high school freshman and refused to leave it. Johnny probably has the safest bet, and Luke puts his chips on a true freshman emerging at the position of deepest need.

If Tyler Moeller isn't this year's Bo Rein award winner, something amazing will have happened. Anything short of another player assassinating the pissed off owly-looking Al Qaeda guy who took over for Osama in the south end zone during a live game after scoring a touchdown - and then flashing his bloody Nike Block O gloves at the camera amidst the deafening cheers while he's flagged for excessive celebration - is going to result in Moeller taking home the prize he richly deserves.

Alex

Chris

DJ

Jason

Joe

Johnny

Luke

Ramzy

Sarah

Bo Rein

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

Moeller

11W COMPOSITE PREDICTION: Leave the vote. Take the cannoli.

your 2011w ohio state most valuable player

It's a defensive lineman! No, it's a suspended running back! NO - it's definitely a center! Or a tight end! Yeah, we have no idea.

Alex

Chris

DJ

Jason

Joe

Johnny

Luke

Ramzy

Sarah

Team MVP

Simon

Herron

Herron

Moeller

Brewster

Brewster

Stoneburner

Herron

Brewster

...and we really don't care. We're just so happy that the season is back. You survived. We survived. Nobody needs a game more than we all do, and next weekend our dreams and our reality will finally intersect.

Parting thoughts from the 11W illuminati:

this season will be a success if:

Alex: Ohio State beats Michigan.

Chris: Miller wins the job and limits turnovers.

DJ: Ohio State wins the B1G and beats Michigan.

Jason: Ohio State wins every game it's favored to win. This means Fickell is more Tressel than Cooper.

Joe: Miller makes good decisions with the ball.

Johnny: Leadership emerges on offense and defense and the team doesn't implode after an early loss.

Luke: Ohio State has a season that can make fans proud, provides invaluable experience to the future of the program, and lays the stage for the next era of OSU football.

Ramzy: The transition into Fickellball is seamless and uncomplicated. Ohio State has to win in Ann Arbor by a comfortable margin, as the rosters are not close.

Sarah: This team eventually clicks like a Tressel team would.

THIs season will be a failure if:

Alex: Ohio State loses to Michigan.

Chris: No QB emerges, forcing a season-long rotation.

DJ: Losing to Brady Hoke.

Jason: Losing to Michigan or dropping five games.

Joe: QB unsettled throughout the season.

Johnny: November record is 2-2 or worse.

Luke: The pulse of the program in its current iteration is contingent on Jim Tressel as its heart valve so to speak.

People understand how to read things that are linked to on the internet. You're not really doing any favors by adding external links that detract from the topic at hand in this here post (you know, the one about prognosticating the season, which has nothing to do with a piece at Grantland).

john brandon is an ignorant asshole and clearly has no idea who Tressel is and what he's done for the players and community off the field. Unbelievable how that stuff can get published. And why now? when everyone has moved on, except apparently espn, when worse transgressions have been reported at miami, when the start of football is just over a week away. dude needs to get the f*** over himself. I'm pissed and hope we run the table and throw a big middle finger to the world.

I'll take 5 game suspensions for players that only sell memorabilia for tattoos rather than root for a team like florida and have 20+ players arrested and smaller suspensions (its cool tho, they won 2 national titles/SEC!).

I'm rooting for Moeller as much as the next guy, but I still just don't see it. To this day, in 5 years at the University, the dude has played 1 good (significant) game in his career. I understand plenty of outside stuff has got in the way, but to me that's not going to make him any better. People never come back from head injuries in a better place - and how many people come back from 2 years away from the game to be that good?

Like I said, I really hope he does well and lays some lumber. But I will be surprised if his impact is that profound.

I'm going to side with DJ on wins and bowl games and how to define success for the season. The standard is win the B1G and beat M*ch*gan. While I believe we should allow room for a new coach who lost 5 would be returning starters, it's still the standard. Would love to see Brewster break out his inner Mangold this year.

Totally agree no breaks in greatness or in the expectations for the buckeyes. The players didnt change... wait, ok they did but I'm with you. And did DJ just say that because of the article the other day

These picks were put in via my BlackBerry as I road down I-670 west last... Friday?, I believe. So yes, before the article. However, after being pillaged with facts the other day, I'm actually more confident with these picks. Take that with whatever boulder of salt you would, but that's just what I feel.

We'll lose to either Michigan State or Nebraska.

I think the lack of expectations will be good for the team & play into Fickell's hand perfectly. I don't think anybody will be able to stop the running game. Tresselizations will be alive and well this fall, I think.

Californian by birth, Marionaire by the Grace of President Warren G. Harding.

I think you guys are way to Hard on Beokman, I do believe he took us to an 11-2/11-1 season and the bcs. Granted he played the statue of liberty durning the USC game, and i was glad to see him sit. Great read today guys. Is it me or what why no love for big Hank. Been my guy since i first saw him on the field.

More participation in the forums and people might actually do it. Not to mention, it requires more steps to create a forum topic and people are just plain lazy. What detractors do people have for thread jacking? No consequences, no altering conduct. Solve these issues surrounding the topic and you will have a resolution. Right now you sound like the SEC and barking orders in regard to Oversigning with a mouth lacking teeth.

I don't always take names when I kick ass but when I do, they most often belong to a Wolverine.

OMG this just gave me the inspiration for Tressel as Judd Nelson in the end of the Breakfast Club and Tressel is reading the letter to Vernon aloud in his so-forth voice as though it is addressed to the President of the NCAA and Tressel is all screw you NCAA I'm going to walk off into the sunset on the football field and he puts on his transition lenses with Simple Minds playing and then Tressel raises his fist in triumph OMG I MUST MAKE THIS MOVIE

I'd say I disagree with DJ's the most, and probably agree with Jason's the most. To each his own. I like 11W prediction type articles though. Can't believe the season is so close. I will never take college football season for granted again. Eh I say that every year!

Games that I legitimately worry about (and can realistically see 2 losses here): shorthanded v.Sparty, Nebraska, Wisconsin.

Even if Miller is starting against Sparty, he'll be really green. At home helps, but it's intimidating. If he's not, I dunno about the offense. Not sure if I can see us winning in Lincoln; that's their first huge B1G game. Wisky just because they're the worst :/

Games that are iffy (we shouldn't lose both; one wouldn't surprise me totally): at Miami (if they aren't totally neutered), at UM.

If Miami has everyone we may struggle to score points. If they don't, it'll be OK. Michigan will be a game that we have a full-out advantage on paper, but it's really hard to prognosticate what the actually will have, especially in a rivalry game on the road.

The rest I think we should be fine, but one loss may crop up.

I'd be really happy at 10-2, disappointed at 7-5. 9-3 and a Capitol One Bowl are most likely, I think.

For fact? If he was getting anything for autographs, he wouldn't have had to sell his gear for tats. What idiot thought that lie was ever true? When I watched the spring scrimmage, the team looked very talented. That is my take. There is definitely some inexperience and a learning curve has to happen. I find it hard to believe they won't be in first for the division. The biggest hole is the same as always on a Tressel team. And it is still that. The offesnive line is pathetic for the most part.